Centipedes, belonging to the class Chilopoda, are ancient arthropods that have been predatory for over 400 million years. These elongated, segmented creatures are obligate carnivores, meaning they must consume other animals to survive. Centipedes are highly effective hunters that use both speed and venom to subdue their prey.
Defining the Centipede Diet
Centipedes are generalist predators with a strictly carnivorous diet, consuming a broad range of live prey they can overpower. Their primary food sources include soft-bodied invertebrates such as earthworms, slugs, and a wide variety of insects like cockroaches, spiders, crickets, and silverfish. Centipedes are often considered beneficial because they help control populations of household and garden pests.
The size of the prey a centipede can tackle depends significantly on its own size, with larger species having a more varied and substantial menu. Small centipedes primarily target smaller invertebrates, while the massive tropical species, particularly those in the genus Scolopendra, are capable of hunting small vertebrates. These giants may prey on animals like lizards, mice, frogs, and even small snakes or bats.
Centipedes are nocturnal hunters, relying on their sensitive antennae to locate prey in the darkness rather than relying on sight. They are opportunistic and will consume almost any animal they can subdue, including other centipedes. This predatory behavior is what draws them to areas with abundant insect populations, whether outdoors or within human structures.
Specialized Predatory Tools
A centipede’s success as a carnivore is directly linked to the forcipules, an evolutionary novelty unique to the class Chilopoda. These are not fangs, but a pair of highly modified front legs that curve forward, functioning as powerful, venom-injecting pincers positioned just behind the head.
Within each forcipule is a venom gland that connects to a duct opening near the tip of the hardened claw. When a centipede captures prey, it swiftly delivers a neurotoxic cocktail through these appendages to immobilize the victim. The venom is a complex mixture of bioactive components, including neurotoxins that rapidly affect the prey’s central nervous system.
This venom causes rapid paralysis, allowing the centipede to subdue creatures that might otherwise escape or fight back. Recent research suggests that centipedes may be able to fine-tune the venom composition they release, potentially adjusting the mix of paralytic and pain-inducing toxins depending on whether they are hunting or defending themselves. Once the prey is immobilized, the centipede uses its actual mouthparts, the mandibles, to consume the meal.
Where Centipedes Encounter Humans
Centipedes favor environments that are dark, damp, and concealed, as their bodies lack the waxy cuticle of insects, making them susceptible to rapid water loss. Outdoors, they thrive under rocks, logs, leaf litter, and in soil, where moisture is retained. They are often drawn toward human dwellings when conditions outside become too dry or when they are seeking a reliable food source.
When they enter homes, centipedes gravitate toward humid areas like basements, crawl spaces, bathrooms, and utility closets, where moisture is plentiful and other household pests like silverfish and spiders are abundant. Their presence in a home often indicates an existing insect problem, as they are following their food supply. They are also fast-moving and nocturnal.
Centipede bites are defensive and not aggressive, typically occurring when the animal is accidentally handled, trapped, or threatened. For most species, the venom is not considered a serious threat to human health, often causing localized pain, redness, and swelling, similar to a bee or wasp sting. Larger species, such as the giant desert centipede, can inflict more intense pain and more pronounced local symptoms, though fatalities are extremely rare.